Travel Photography – The President’s Home

For you history buffs and for Matt Brandon just in case he gets homesick every now and then.

The Washington area was the site of the final home of the last president of the Republic of Texas. Anson Jones had arrived in Texas in 1833. Settling in Brazoria, he practiced medicine and his business thrived. Like other prosperous men he was drawn into the political conflicts of his era. Actively serving the Republic of Texas, he was Congressman, Minister to the United States, Senator, and Secretary of State. In 1844, at the height of his political career, Jones was elected president of the Republic.

It was a bittersweet legacy of Jones’s short tenure as president for during that time the Republic of Texas ceased to exist. Instead, Texas became the 28th State of the United States. It was left to Jones to declare, “The final act in this great drama is now performed. The Republic of Texas is no more.” — Anson Jones, President, Republic of Texas February 19, 1846

With these words Jones ended his public life and political career, retiring with his family to Barrington, the home he had built near the town of Washington. Anson Jones’s star rose briefly with the Republic’s “Lone Star” and faded quickly with annexation.

Copyright Texas Parks and Wildlife

The President’s Home
Copyright © 2009 Jeff Lynch Photography
Shot taken with a Canon EOS 50D set on aperture priority (Av) using an EF 24-105mm f/4L IS USM hand-held. The exposure was taken at 24mm, f/8 for 1/125th of a second at ISO 100 on Lexar Professional UDMA digital film. Post capture processing was done in Lightroom 2 and Photoshop Elements using Nik Software’s Silver Efex Pro filters. Click on the image above for a larger version.

Travel Photography – Its the People

Photographing people has always been difficult for me. It takes tremendous courage and personal integrity to ask someone if you can take their picture, especially in the times in which we live. Its a skill that travel photographers like David duChemin, Matt Brandon and Gavin Gough learned long ago and practice every day in their art and work. Its also a skill that a master like Joe McNally makes look really simple in his latest book The Hot Shoe Diaries.

But its not a skill that comes easily to me, so I practice ever chance I get. Luckily, this young lady working at the Washington on the Brazos State Historical Site was kind enough to pose for me.

Texas Pioneer
Copyright © 2009 Jeff Lynch Photography
Shot taken with a Canon EOS 50D set on aperture priority (Av) using an EF 24-105mm f/4L IS USM hand-held. The exposure was taken at 105mm, f/5.6 for 1/45th of a second at ISO 100 on Lexar Professional UDMA digital film. Post capture processing was done in Lightroom 2 and Photoshop Elements using Nik Software’s Color Efex Pro filters. Click on the image above for a larger version.

Comparing the EOS 50D and EOS 500D Cameras

Image courtesy and copyright Canon

Its only been two days since Canon announced the new ESO 500D / Rebel T1i and already some EOS 50D owners are crying foul. Especially since this new consumer grade DSLR borrows so much technology from its older sibling the EOS 50D such as its:

• 15.1 Megapixel APS-C CMOS sensor.
• ISO 100-3200 (expandable to 12800).
• 3.0” ClearView LCD with Live View mode.
• 9-point wide area AF with cross type center point.
• High speed DIGIC 4 performance and superb image quality.
• EOS Integrated Cleaning System.

As well as the fact that it goes one step further and provides full HD movie recording capabilities with HDMI connection for viewing and playback on an HDTV, just like the new 5D mark II.

Do these similarities really matter to EOS 50D owners or are the differences in build quality, size, weight, viewfinder, auto focus, burst rate and accessories enough to differentiate the two cameras?

Will Canon release a firmware update for the EOS 50D that enables HD movie recording or will this feature continue to grace only its consumer and professional grade cameras?

Or will the Fake Chuck Westfall spend the next few months lampooning Canon’s seemingly unusual marketing scheme?

Only time will tell!

Landscape Photography – A Sense of Scale

Have you ever photographed a deep forest, a huge lake or an enormous mountain range and when you looked at your images later they just didn’t seem as “big” as you remember? This happens a lot in landscape photography since the camera itself has no way to record a sense of scale. Its up to you as the photographer to create this sense of scale, which is why many professionals prefer to shoot landscape and travel images that include people.

Take the image below for example. This field of wildflowers covered several acres of land and stretched almost as far as the eye could see. Without the people in the image, the sense of scale would have been lost.

Bluebonnets
Copyright © 2009 Jeff Lynch Photography
Shot taken with a Canon EOS 40D set on aperture priority (Av) using an EF-S 10-22mm f/3.5-4.5 USM tripod mounted. The exposure was taken at 22mm, f/9.5 for 1/60th of a second at ISO 100 on Sandisk Extreme III digital film. Post capture processing was done in Lightroom 2 and Photoshop Elements using Nik Software’s Color Efex Pro filters. Click on the image above for a larger version.

Nature Photography – Yellow

Sometimes you come across a scene that just begs to be photographed. You might walk for miles in the deep woods and find it around a bend in the trail. Or you may catch a glimpse of it from the highway and just have to stop and get out your gear.

You know the feelings that comes with such a setting. The anticipation you feel as you setup and level your tripod. The quiet excitement that comes from your first look through the viewfinder. The sense of wonder that comes over you when you look at your first shot on the camera’s LCD. And finally, the satisfaction your feel when what you print looks just as you remembered it the day before.

Yellow As Far As the Eye Can See
Copyright © 2009 Jeff Lynch Photography
Shot taken with a Canon EOS 50D set on aperture priority (Av) using an EF-S 10-22mm f/3.5-4.5 USM tripod mounted. The exposure was taken at 22mm, f/8 for 1/90th of a second at ISO 100 on Lexar Professional UDMA digital film. Post capture processing was done in Lightroom 2 and Photoshop Elements using Nik Software’s Color Efex Pro filters. Click on the image above for a larger version.

Nature Photography – Wildflowers and Fences

Last Friday I drove over 150 miles on the back roads of Washington County, Texas looking for wildflowers. Around every bend I’d find bluebonnets on the side of roads, in the farmer’s fields and next to the pastures full of grazing cattle (Longhorns of course). I wanted these two images to portray the rustic beauty that can be found in the part of Texas I love the best!

For you history buffs, Washington was the site of the 1836 General Convention which decided the fate of Texas and where the Texas Declaration of Independence was signed on March 2, 1836. Washington remained a county of some prominence in early Texas history right up until the Civil War began.

Wildflowers by the Fence
Copyright © 2009 Jeff Lynch Photography
Shot taken with a Canon EOS 50D set on aperture priority (Av) using an EF 24-105mm f/4 IS USM hand-held. The exposure was taken at 70mm, f/5.6 for 1/180th of a second at ISO 100 on Lexar Professional UDMA digital film. Post capture processing was done in Lightroom 2 and Photoshop Elements using Nik Software’s Color Efex Pro filters. Click on the image above for a larger version.

More Wildflowers
Copyright © 2009 Jeff Lynch Photography
Shot taken with a Canon EOS 50D set on aperture priority (Av) using an EF 24-105mm f/4 IS USM hand-held. The exposure was taken at 32mm, f/5.6 for 1/180th of a second at ISO 100 on Lexar Professional UDMA digital film. Post capture processing was done in Lightroom 2 and Photoshop Elements using Nik Software’s Color Efex Pro filters. Click on the image above for a larger version.

Nature Photography – Wildflower Ranch

I want you to know that no retouching was done to this image to enhance the areas of deep purple. This is exactly what I saw when driving past the Citadel Ranch just a few miles southeast of Brenham, Texas.

This must be why the cows think Brenham is heaven, Matt!

Wildflower Ranch
Copyright © 2009 Jeff Lynch Photography
Shot taken with a Canon EOS 50D set on aperture priority (Av) using an EF 24-105mm f/4 IS USM tripod mounted. The exposure was taken at 58mm, f/8 for 1/90th of a second at ISO 100 on Lexar Professional UDMA digital film. Post capture processing was done in Lightroom 2. Click on the image above for a larger version.

Nature Photography – Walking in Wildflowers

I’m almost afraid to post this week. I hate to post cheerful, colorful springtime images when my friends in the Northeast are still under a blanket of snow and those in the Pacific Northwest are experiencing their usual winter of rain, rain, and more rain!

Springtime comes swiftly in Southeast Texas and this weekend the wildflowers were in full bloom. Thousands of folks from all around the US visit the little towns of Chappell Hill and Brenham, Texas this time of year, eagerly awaiting the perfect moment to photograph the Bluebonnets and Indian Paintbrushes in full bloom. These three visitors were kind enough to let me take a few shots as they walked through the wildflowers. Springtime in Texas is something you have to experience to believe.

Walking in Wildflowers
Copyright © 2009 Jeff Lynch Photography
Shot taken with a Canon EOS 50D set on aperture priority (Av) using an EF 24-105mm f/4 IS USM hand-held. The exposure was taken at 100mm, f/5.6 for 1/750th of a second at ISO 100 on Lexar Professional UDMA digital film. Post capture processing was done in Lightroom 2. Click on the image above for a larger version.